Saturday, November 22, 2014

Tonight, Friday, Fred, Doodle, and I along with a group of other church members delivered Thanksgiving meals to 80 families in the larger Annapolis area. Now, I know it’s not Giving Tuesday yet, but today was a day for us to do our part for Thanksgiving.

I know the frenzy of shopping comes the day after Thanksgiving. We’re out getting things for family and friends while people around us are struggling to put a meal on the table. For me, things have improved, to a degree, with my job. I still struggle to make ends meet and try to be as careful as I can with my money. I’ve never been as bad off as some people, but I’ve never been in a place where I didn’t worry about my finances.
In fact, there were numerous times I’d have to go to the food pantry at church to see if they had food we would use. At Thanksgiving I would hear a knock on my door and guess what? Someone from church would show up with a bag or two of food even though I hadn’t signed up for it. Pride gets in the way quite often, especially in a church where everyone knows you. Of course, that means they know you well enough to deliver you food because they know you won’t ask for it.

When World Vision reached out to me asking me if I’d partner with them for Giving Tuesday, I couldn’t say no. I actually wanted to do this post without receiving anything because this is such a personal topic to me, but I was told they were already shipping me a package. What they sent is absolutely beautiful and the idea of them partnering with Thirty-One Gifts warms my heart.
So, what are they doing? On December 2nd, the third annual Giving Tuesday, the first 3,100 donations made by phone (1-888-511-6588) or online to World Vision, Thirty-One Gifts will donate a Hope Kit tote filled with hygiene supplies to a woman or girl in need in the U.S. World Vision is a Christian humanitarian agency and with this partnership, they’ll make twice the impact by combatting poverty in one of the 100 countries where World Vision works and helping a woman/girl in need here to get back on her feet with a Hope Kit.

Did you know, 1 in 3 American women – 42 million women, plus 28 million children – either live in poverty or are right on the brink of it. I know that by the standard of living here in Maryland, my boys and I are living close to the poverty line. If it weren’t for my parents, I wouldn’t have a car to drive. My boys get reduced lunches. That’s different than the past year where they’d been receiving free meals. I work full time at a good job, but because of life’s circumstances, don’t receive child support right now. Life doesn’t always go the way you expect.
I know that receiving a gift like the Hope Kit would’ve touched my heart going through those tough times. On top of that, they put in a note of encouragement in the Kit as well! Such a sweet blessing!
We haven’t made our donation yet to World Vision and this is the nudge I needed. We order from them every year for my daughter anyhow, so what better time to do it than the Tuesday after Thanksgiving? I would love to encourage you to multiply your charitable impact this year during the holidays!

You also have the opportunity to win a personalized Handle-It Cosmetic Bag in either Paisley Day, Black Chevron, or Plum Chevron from Thirty-One Gifts! Oh, and did I mention, I love Thirty-One Gifts that I already have a personalized Cinch Sac for my youngest son hidden under my bed for Christmas!